FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—March 6, 2008
SANTA FE—The Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) Board yesterday signed a $180.9 million contract with the Design-Build (DB) team of CH2M Hill/Western Summit Constructors Joint Venture. Under the contract, the DB team will be responsible for completing design and constructing all of the BDD facilities, including a diversion structure on the Rio Grande, a raw water lift station, a sand removal facility, 11 miles of raw water pipelines, two booster stations to pump/lift the water approximately 1,100 vertical feet, the water treatment plant and related facilities, two new treated water pump stations and 15 miles of finished water pipelines connected to the City and County water distribution systems.
“We are very pleased with the positive, innovative outlook this team brings to the Buckman Direct Diversion project, along with their willingness to share risks, appropriate and realistic cost estimates, and projected schedule of bringing the project on-line by March of 2011. They are well-qualified to build an exceptional project that is crucial in assuring the City and the County have a reliable, sustainable, high-quality drinking water supply,” said Rebecca Wurzburger, Santa Fe city councilor and chair of the BDD Board.
The process to select a Design Build Contractor actually began in June 2006, when the BDD issued a Request for Qualifications. Three teams were identified as meeting the qualifications needed to bid on the project. Cost proposals were received from two of the three teams last fall, and BDD staff and consultants have been negotiating with the CH2M Hill/Western Summit team since receiving their “best and final offer” in November 2007.
Virginia Vigil, Santa Fe county commissioner and vice-chair of the BDD Board, emphasized that while the DB contract is an important step forward, BDD Board and staff are continuing to work on a number of important issues that need to be resolved before construction can begin.
The BDD is working with Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to work out solutions to six actions the BDD Board has requested LANL to fund and implement. An independent expert review of drinking water quality issues and questions related to LANL-origin contamination concluded the radionuclide contamination is at very low levels in the river except during times when the river contains high amounts of sediment, that the
BDD Signs Design Build Contract—First add
City/County water treatment plant will efficiently remove the contaminants, and that diversion of river water can be temporarily stopped to avoid diversion of water containing excessive amounts of sediments.
“We’re making good progress in these areas and, by working together, are confident we can satisfactorily resolve these issues before groundbreaking is scheduled later this year,” Vigil said. Rick Carpenter, BDD project manager, added, “We are confident that the drinking water produced by the BDD will be high-quality and will easily comply with more stringent standards for LANL-origin contaminants, including plutonium, that have been proposed by groups that have expressed concerns.”
In addition, the BDD is awaiting construction permits and rights-of-way from the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Forest Service and BLM determined in their Final Environment Impact Statement and Record of Decision that the BDD is their selected alternative to provide additional water supply and reduce groundwater pumping demands and that they would provide the necessary rights-of-way. Also in progress is the NPDES Permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which will determine whether the BDD returns some of the larger sand particles it diverts back to the river or trucks the material to a landfill. EPA held a public hearing on a draft of the proposed permit in Santa Fe in January.
CH2M Hill, headquartered in Englewood, Colo., is a global leader in providing full-service engineering, construction and operation of drinking water infrastructure projects. The firm was ranked first in the Top 20 Firms in Water and first in the Top 200 Environmental Firms by Engineering News-Record in February 2007. The company has an office in Albuquerque.
Western Summit Constructors enjoys a solid reputation as one of the most experienced, high- quality contractors in the water and wastewater industry. Western Summit is consistently ranked as one of Engineering News-Record’s Top 20 Water and Wastewater contractors. Headquartered in Denver, Colo., the company opened an office in Albuquerque in 2007.
The total estimated project cost of the BDD, including Design Build construction, administration, legal, engineering and other related costs is $210 million. To help defray this cost, BDD Board and staff have secured more than $2.4 million in grants and appropriations from state and federal agencies, including the New Mexico Environment Dept., the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Water Trust Board. The Water Trust Board additionally pledged $4 million to the project through HB 308 in the 2008 Legislature, which was just signed into law by Governor Bill Richardson. The New Mexico Finance Authority has already pledged $7 million in a low-interest loan to the BDD, with an additional $8 million low-interest loan to be made available when the Record of Decision is finalized.
The City of Santa Fe plans to pay its share of construction costs with funds backed by City gross receipts taxes and water revenue bonds. Santa Fe County plans to fund its share of
construction costs through general obligation bonds and gross receipts tax revenue bonds. Las Campanas is funding its share of BDD costs on a cash basis.
About the Buckman Direct Diversion Project
The Buckman Direct Diversion (BDD) project will provide a sustainable way for the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County and their limited partner, Las Campanas, to access surface water supplies by diverting San Juan-Chama Project water and native Rio Grande water. The BDD will divert water from the Rio Grande, pipe it underground to a City/County water treatment plant near the Municipal Recreational Complex, then treat and deliver the water to customers of the City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County. Las Campanas will receive and treat a portion of the water for its residents at a facility that is not part of the BDD.
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